Loading boom



April 10, 1962 A. F. BATOR 3,028,697

LOADING BOOM Filed May 27, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 &

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April 10, 1962 A. F. BATOR 3,028,697

LOADING BOOM Filed May 27, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 N R, O

Andrew E Bafor INVENTOR.

BY 2mm...

WWW fim United States Patent Q 3,028,697 LOADING BOOM Andrew F. Bator, 316 W. 2nd St., Cle Elum, Wash. Filed May 27, 1958, Ser. No. 738,146 3 Claims. (Cl. 37-143) This invention comprises a novel and useful loading boom and more particularly relates to a boom or crane which may be combined with a bulldozer to thereby increase the facility and utility of the latter.

The primary purpose of this invention is to provide a crane construction which may be mounted upon a conventional bulldozer in such a manner as to greatly increase the utility of the latter as well as enhance the efficiency of operation of the crane.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a crane construction which shall be mounted upon a bulldozer blade and shall be braced upon and operated by the bulldozer in a highly effective manner.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a crane construction for a bulldozer whereby the winch of a conventional bulldozer may be utilized as desired to perform the lifting functions of the crane or to facilitate vertical adjustable swinging movement of the boom of the crane.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a combined bulldozer and crane assembly wherein the boom of the crane shall be pivotally mounted upon the bulldozer blade for vertical swinging movement, and wherein the bracing means for the boom shall be secured to a frame which in turn is carried by the means by which the blade of the bulldozer is mounted for vertical pivotal movement, and wherein a combined brace and stop means is provided for the boom of the crane which will limit upward swinging movement of the latter.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a combined crane and bulldozer in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view upon an enlarged scale showing the manner in which the boom of the crane and its guy wires are secured to the upper portion of the bulldozer blade;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the upper end of the crane boom showing the crown block pulley construction thereof;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view showing the supporting frame and the manner in which the sameis secured to the mounting means for the bulldozer blade; and

FIGURE 5 is a view in vertical longitudinal section, parts being broken away, through one of the telescoping brace members by which the boom is secured to the supporting frame.

Referring now especially to FIGURE 1 it will be seen that numeral designates generally a conventional type of bulldozer comprising a tractor indicated generally at 12 and having mounted thereon a bulldozer blade 14. The usual bulldozer blade supporting arms 16 are pivoted to the tractor in a manner not shown, and have upwardly extending members 18 which cooperate with hydraulic lift means 22) whereby the latter may be employed to raise or lower the bulldozer blade in accordance with conventional practice. The tractor further includes a Winch assembly designated generally in its entirety by the numeral 22 and which is operated from the power plant of the tractor in a well-known manner.

It is to a bulldozer of this general construction that 3,028,697 Patented Apr. I0, 1962 the principles of the present invention are applied whereby a crane assembly is mounted and associated with the bulldozer in an improved manner to enable the latter to perform lifting functions without the necessity for requiring the use, of a separate apparatus. Thus as shown in FIGURE 1 a crane assembly designated generally by the numeral 24 is employed to lift an object such as a log 26 or the like, an operation which ordinarily necessitates the discontinuance of the operation of the bulldozer and the employment of a separate apparatus to perform this lifting function.

In applying the principles of this invention, whereby a crane assembly may be mounted upon a bulldozer for operation therewith and thereby, it will be seen that a boom 28 is secured by fulcrum or pivot pins 30 at its lower end, see FIGURE 2, to a pair of upstanding mounting brackets 32 which are rigidly attached to and project upwardly from the top edge of the bulldozer blade 14 intermediate the ends of the latter. Thus, the boom at its lower end is pivoted to the upper edge of the bulldozer blade for vertical swinging movement.

Referring especially to FIGURE 3 it will be seen that the boom 28 at its uppermost end is provided with a conventional crown block construction 34 in which is journalled a pulley 36.

Referring again to FIGURES 1 and 2 it will be seen that a pair of lateral guy wires 38, secured in any suitable manner to the crown block 34 are provided at their lower ends with adjusting turnbuckles 40 by which they are secured to eyes 42 rigidly attached to the upper edge of the bulldozer blade at the opposite ends of the latter. By tightening the turnbuckles, the guy wires may be tensioned and thus impart lateral stability to the boom as the latter is pivotally mounted upon the bulldozer blade.

Referring now especially to FIGURES l and 4 it will be seen that a supporting frame designated generally by the numeral 50 is mounted upon and supported by the upper ends of the arms 18 of the blade mounting means, and is disposed above and extends transversely of the tractor. This supporting frame which is generally triangular in shape as shown in FIGURE 4, is secured as by fasteners 52 to mounting brackets 54 which latter are carried by the upper ends of the arms 18. An idler or guide roller or pulley 56 is journalled between a pair of parallel upstanding supports 58 at the upper end of the frame and engages, guides and supports a cable 60 which at one end is connected to the winch 22, is reeved over the pulley 36 of the crown block of the boom, and at its other end is provided with a lifting means in the form of a hook, eye or the like, as at 60, by means of which the log 26 or the like may be lifted. Inasmuch as the winch construction and its manner of operation are conventional, and the principles of this invention are not limited to any particular arrangement of the same, the further description of the winch assembly is deemed to be unnecessary for the purposes of the invention.

However, it may be noted that a pair of rigid brace rods 62, cables or other tension or brace members are connected to the supports 58 and to the winch assembly 22 in order to rigidify the mounting of the support frame 50.

Referring now again to FIGURE 3 in connection with FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the crown block assembly at its lower end is provided with outwardly diverging members 64 and additional brace means in the form of cables or other tension members 65 are secured at one end thereto, and their other ends are secured to the previously mentioned brackets 54. The members 66 constitute tension elements which serve to retain a boom in adjusted vertically inclined position.

Finally, as will be apparent from FIGURES l and 5, there is provided an additional telescoping brace, guide and stop means. The latter consists of two pairs of telescoping members, each pair comprising an outer tubular sleeve 68 and a rod 70 slidable therein. It will be seen that the sleeve 68 at its end remote from the rod 70 has a radially inwardly extending shoulder or rib 72 constituting a stop means which limits movement of the rod 70 inwardly of the sleeve 68. An ear 74 carried by the sleeve 68 is apertured as at 76 for the reception of a bolt or the like 755 and in this manner the telescoping members are pivotally connected to the boom by the fasteners 78 intermediate the ends of the boom. At their opposite ends, the rods 70 are apertured as at 8% and are provided with fasteners 32 by which the telescoping members are secured to the previously mentioned brackets 54 of the support frame. The sliding movement of the rods 70 within the sleeves 63 allows a downward swinging movement of the boom, but limits upward movement of the same to prevent the boom falling backward upon the tractor.

As will be seen from FIGURE 1, the boom at any con venient place as at its lower end is provided with a fastening member such as an eye 84 which may be engaged by the lift means 60 so that when the brace means 66 are disconnected, the winch and cable may be employed to raise or lower the boom. This enables the boom to be positioned in a desired vertically inclined adjusted position, after which the brace means 66 may be secured and the cable 60 may be employed to lift an object or for similar purposes.

It should be particularly noted that by the mounting of the lower end of the boom pivotally upon the top of the bulldozer blade 14, when the latter is rested upon the ground, the entire weight of the boom and its load may be carried firmly and securely upon the wide base afforded by the bulldozer blade, so that very heavy loads may be successfully lifted. For lighter loads, the bulldozer blade need not be positioned upon the ground, and can be vertically adjusted during use as desired by means of the hydraulic cylinder means 20 with which the tractor is customarily provided.

It will thus be apparent that there has been provided a crane attachment specifically adapted for use with bulldozers and the like which will thus greatly increase the utility of the bulldozer and enable it to perform lifting operations thereby obviating the necessity for employing a separate lifting apparatus for this purpose.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a bulldozer, a tractor, a blade, means mounting said blade upon said tractor and a power driven winch mounted upon said tractor; a boom having a pulley journaled upon its upper end, pivots connecting the lower end of said boom to the top of said blade for vertical swinging movement, a cable connected at one end to said winch and reeved through said pulley and having a lift means at its other end, brace means connecting said boom to said tractor, and laterally stabilizing guy wires connected to the upper end of said boom and to the opposite ends of said blade, said guy wires being vertically swingable with said boom, and means for connecting the cable lift means to said boom whereby said winch may effect vertical swinging movement of said boom.

2. In a crane-equipped bulldozer, the combination of a tractor having a power driven winch at the rear end thereof, a bulldozer blade at the front end of said tractor, blade supporting means including a frame disposed above the intermediate portion of the tractor, a vertically swingable boom pivoted at its lower end to the upper edge of said bulldozer blade, releasable means extending between the upper end of said boom and said frame for adjustably sustaining the boom in a fixed position against downward swinging, a pulley provided at the upper end of said boom, a cable operatively connected to said winch and passing over said pulley, and hook means provided at the free end of said cable, said hook means being selectively engageable with a load for raising and lowering the same when said boom sustaining means support the boom in a fixed position, and with the lower end portion of said boom for raising and lowering the same when the boom sustaining means are released for adjustment.

3. In a crane, the combination of a tractor having a winch at the rear end thereof, first power means drivingly connected to said winch, a vertically swingable boom pivoted at its lower end to a support at the front of said tractor, a pulley provided at the upper end of said boom, a cable operatively connected to said winch and passing over said pulley, a hook connected to the free end of said cable, hook engaging means mounted on said boom, said hook being separably engageable with said hook-engaging means whereby the boom may be raised and lowered by said cable upon actuation of said winch, releasable means for locking said boom in a fixed position whereby said hook may be used for raising a load when separated from said hook engaging means and second power means connected between said support and tractor so as to elevate said support, said boom and said hook independently of said winch and first power means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 628,815 Kearns July 11, 1899 2,301,808 Mosher Nov. 10, 1942 2,452,408 Washbond Oct. 2(, 1948 2,509,686 Huston May 30, 1950 2,627,985 Sathre et al Feb. 10, 1953 2,647,331 Brugger Aug. 4, 1953 2,713,218 Dyer July 19, 1955 2,715,014 Garnett et al Aug. 9, 1955 2,831,592 Syracuse Apr. 22, 1958 

